Unwanted Destiny
by Sheankelor
Summary: Have you ever wondered what was Saturn like in the Silver Millennium? Well, this is my interpretation. This is a collection of short stories written for SMMFC for the month of October. Fates story line. T just in case. Please let me know if you enjoy!
1. Coming of Age

Title: Coming of Age  
Author: Ree  
Theme: Saturn (Adolescents)  
Genre: General  
Version: Anime/Manga - pre storyline  
Rating: G

Hotaru and all her friends and enemies are originally from the mind of Takeuchi Naoko. Any character she didn't create must fall to me.

Coming of Age

Brushing the dust off her skirt, Saturn's princess stood looking at the villa nestled high on the side of the mountain. A breeze ruffled her short dark hair.  
_'Well I'm here. But I still don't know what they want me for.'_

The message was delivered last week. It had come four months after _it_ happened. She knew she would never forget that day. She brushed her fingers across her forehead.

"Princess Nix, it's time." Lady Hemera poked her head into the room.

The princess of Saturn turned and smiled at her favorite aunt. "Coming!!" She spun around one last time in front of her mirror just to see her new dress flare around her legs. Smiling, she scampered out the door.

Lady Hemera watched as Nix tripped down the hallway towards the ballroom. _'I can't believe that she is already fourteen. She is on the verge of being a woman.'_ Smiling, she trailed behind. As Hemera entered the ballroom, she heard her brother's welcoming speech.

Nix picked up a drink off a nearby tray and turned to survey the room. The party was going smoothly. Glancing about, she took in all the lovely dresses, and the cute guys that were sprinkled about the large room. It took her just a moment to realize that some of the people she was admiring were actually reflections in the mirrors that had been strategically placed around the room. She settled down into a seat tucked partially behind a plant, and took a sip of her drink. _'My feet are tired. I wonder when they are going serve supper. I'm hungry.'_

As Nix turned her hopeful gaze towards the server's entrance, she saw her father signaling for her to come over to the dais. Discreetly stretching her legs for a moment, Nix rose and started crossing the room. Halfway there her forehead started burning, and a violet light blinded her. She felt her mind go blank for a moment, but when she could think again, she started rubbing her forehead. Blinking her eyes, she tried to focus on the room around her. When it did, she noticed that everyone was backing away from her, their eyes wide, and fear written on their faces. Then, just as the uncertainty was setting in, Nix felt a comforting hand in the center of her back. Glancing to her left, she saw Lady Hemera looking down at her, with a gentle smile on her face. It was that smile that gave her the courage to look at her father. King Thanatos was trying to keep the uncertainty off his face.

Lady Hemera lifted her smiling face and looked at the King. "Your majesty, the light has shone. Princess Nix is truly coming of age."

Thanatos followed her lead. "Yes. The light of Saturn has shone for all to see. Princess Nix is the true heir to the throne of Saturn. Let us finish this night's celebration, and tomorrow she shall begin her training."

The party had continued, but Nix noticed that most of her friends stayed at a distance.

Nix dropped her hand from her forehead. She still had to learn why she was here. Holding back her sigh, she continued her climb to the villa. 


	2. No answers yet

Title: No answers yet  
Author: Ree  
Theme: Saturn (mists)  
Genre: General  
Version: Anime/Manga - pre storyline  
Rating: G

Hotaru and all her friends and enemies are originally from the mind of Takeuchi Naoko. Any character she didn't create must fall to me. 

No answers yet

Nix held the tiny silver glaive steady. She couldn't imagine why Lachesis insisted that she use it instead of a sharp pair of scissors.

Lachesis held a piece of thread in her hands. "Now cut with an even pressure. I'll hold the thread taunt."

Nix rested the blade against the thread, and then with an even pressure, she sliced through it. Lachesis showed a rare smile. "Well, done Princess. Soon you'll be ready to help me cut the threads on the loom."

Nix glanced over to where Atropos was weaving a large tapestry. The third sister was spinning the thread that was being woven. She returned her gaze to Lachesis. _'She won't even let me touch the thread that Klotho is spinning, and now she says I'll be cutting it soon?'_ In a quite voice she heard herself asking, "Will I be able to weave and spin as well?"

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Klotho flinch and then shift just enough that it blocked Nix's view of the spinning thread.

Lachesis looked down at Saturn's princess with a trace of sympathy in her eyes that she quickly hid. "No, you will only be able to help me cut the threads. You are not the one chosen to spin or weave."  
She turned and picked up another mundane piece of yarn. " This time, I'll only hold one end. You must practice holding the thread taunt."

And so the day continued. Finally, Lachesis had released her. Nix grabbed a picnic basket and wondered out of the villa. Soon she was wondering in the mists a little higher on the mountain. Finding a comfortable ledge, she stretched and ate her dinner while watching the patterns formed in the swirling mists.

Her mind reflected the mists, it was whirling around, with all the important things obscured, but the pattern was still interesting to see.

Ever since the day that the sigil of Saturn had appeared on her forehead, everyone has treated her differently. And as hard as she tried she could not find the reason for it. She still did not know why the Fates had insisted that she needed to train with them, and she had been training with them for the last two months, off and on. King Thanatos insisted that she come home to continue her training to take over the throne. _'And for some reason that amuses the three sisters greatly. I wish I understood better! Why? Why am I chosen for this? What is so important about those threads? Why won't anybody tell me?!!!'_

Nix wanted to vent her frustration, but she was afraid that that would scare off the remaining friends she had. So many of them had drifted away. _'And Aunt Hemera shakes her head and calls them fools. Then in the same breath she tells me to be careful. That those that are still my friends might only still be so they can receive a favor.'_

Sighing she picked up a stick and started drawing in the dust around her. Soon she was surrounded by sketched flowers.

Looking down at the stick in her hands, it changed into a glaive, but not the small one she used at Lachesis insistence, but into a long staff. The illusion faded, and she was left holding a small stick. Setting it down she picked up her basket and headed back down the mountain. As she left the mists behind her, she wished the one in her head could be left behind as well. 


	3. Learning her destiny

Title: Learning her destiny  
Author: Ree  
Theme: Saturn (No)  
Genre: General  
Version: Anime/Manga - pre storyline  
Rating: G

Hotaru and all her friends and enemies are originally from the mind of Takeuchi Naoko. Any character she didn't create must fall to me.

Learning her destiny

Lady Hemera gazed into nothingness while she carefully closed the book. All she could focus on was the information she had finally found. Eventually, she looked down at the old worn cover of the tiny book resting in front of her. The cover was an unobtrusive dark brown with the symbol of Saturn lightly imprinted on it. She had pulled it off the shelf in what she had thought to be a futile attempt to find a lead to the information she sought.

_'That's how hard this search has been. The data is not in any of the computer data bases. And with my clearance I was able to search them all. I eventually ended up here.'_ She gaze skimmed across the rows of bookshelves of the royal library. _'The ancient archives. All the information that never made it to the electronic database.'_

She picked up the slim book and turned it over in her hands, shaking her head slightly. _'I was about to give up. But it is all here. In this one tiny, obscure book. '_

Hemera gingerly set the book back down, but her fingers lightly caressed the cover. _'I finally know why the sigil of Saturn appeared on Nix's forehead. I know why the Fates have called her to train with them. I know what she is to become. What I don't know is if I should tell her.'_

She gazed back into nothingness, stroking the cover of the book, trying to find the best answer her dilemma.

Princess Nix fell back onto her bed. _'It's good to be home. At least here everything is familiar.'_ She tried to block out the little voice that told her that everything here was different, too. She was tired of the special treatment. She really wanted all her old friends back. And the ones that stayed her friends, she wanted them to act like they used too. _'If this is what it means to grow up... Well I wish I could stop time and stay young forever.'_ Rolling over on her bed she buried her face under the pillow. For the rest of the morning she kept her head buried under the pillow.

The discreet knock at her door finally drew her out of her bed. Quickly brushing her hands through her hair, she opened the door. Lady Hemera smiled at her from the other side. Nix felt the doldrums fall away. "Lady Hemera! Come in." She pulled the door open wider.

Lady Hemera shook her head no. "Come on out of there. You haven't left this room since you came home."

Nix felt her eyes narrow just slightly. Lady Hemera sounded a little too happy. Her tone sounded like she was forcing it. _'And she only does that when she has bad news she doesn't want to tell me.'_

Hemera waved at her to come out of the room. In the overly bright tone she continued. "I thought we could enjoy a picnic outside, in our favorite spot. Come on."

Nix almost shied away from the forced smile that Hemera shone at her. _'Although most people wouldn't realize it was forced. Too many people take Lady Hemera at face value. Something is wrong.'_ Stepping out of her room , she shut the door behind her. Then forcing her own smile, she answered her aunt. "Then lets go."

The two of them strolled out to the garden, but when Nix started to bear left at the fork in the path, Hemera went towards the right. Keeping the look of surprise off her face, Nix turned and followed her. _'I thought she said to our favorite spot. That is down near the lake at the end of the left hand fork.'_ Nix then caught Hemera casting furtive glances around them. _'She laid a false trail, and now is making sure we aren't being followed. What does she have to tell me? What is so important and secretive that it requires the sister of the king, and the heir to the realm to sneak off and talk about?'_ She found herself clambering over large rocks, and ducking under fallen trees as they entered the untended end of the garden. _'And where are we going?'_

Hemera finally came to a stop in front of a large cave, and after one last look around, she went in signaling Nix to follow her. Nix jumped as she felt an invisible wall close behind her when she walked into the mouth of the cave. Spinning around she almost left the cave. Only her trust in Lady Hemera kept her there. Behind her she head Hemera sigh as she set down the basket she had been carrying. And then Hemera spoke, but her tone didn't sound forced anymore. She sounded tired and unsure. "I'm sorry to drag you all the way out here. But I have something to tell you, and I don't want anyone to hear it but you. This cave is protected by a wall of silence. It was set in place by one of the greatest warriors Saturn has ever seen."

Nix felt the truth in her statement. She turned back around and looked up into her favorite Aunt's face. She wanted to ask how she knew about this cave, and who the warrior was, but she left the trivial questions till later. "What is going on? What can need this much secrecy?"

Hemera bent down and drew the slim, nondescript, brown book out of the basket. She held it for a moment, turning it in her hands before she answered. "I found your answers."

Nix felt her insides still. Hemera's tone warned her she wasn't going to like the answers. She decided to buy herself a little time, and pretend she didn't understand. "Answers to what?"

Hemera gave her a knowing look, but played her game willingly. "The answers to what that sigil and light meant. The reason the Fates are interested in you. If you don't want to know, that is fine." With a rueful laugh she continued. "Trust me, I wish I hadn't found out."

Nix felt the uncertainty building in her again. Did she want to know? Yes, she did. But the look in Hemera's eyes made her wonder. "I'm not going to like it, am I?"

Hemera shook her head. "No. You're not."

Nix felt herself tense. "Will it change anything if I did know?"

Hemera answered with a half smile on her face. "I doubt it. It is fate. It is who you are born to be. I don't think knowing or not knowing will change a thing."

Nix felt her shoulders twitch at the word fate. She had spent too long in the presence of the Fates to discount its power. Her eyes were drawn to the small book resting in her aunt's hands. She had to know. The uncertainty, the not knowing, was gnawing away at her. Bracing herself for anything, she looked back into Hemera's face. "Tell me."

Hemera nodded. "I thought that would be your choice. That is why we are here." As she looked at her niece, she wanted to rail against fate for choosing this small girl for this momentous responsibility. "The sigil and light means that you are one of the Sailor Senshi. And since the sigil was that of Saturn, you are Sailor Saturn."

Hemera search Nix's face for any sign of recognition, but the blank look told her she was going to have to finish the explanation. "There are many Sailor Senshi in this system. Most of them now reside in the Moon Kingdom with Queen Serenity." A look of fear or worry skittered across Nix's face. "They are all senshi of light, positive energy. You are their opposite."

Nix's eyes widened. "They aren't going to come hunt me down are they? I'm not evil!"

Hemera shook her head. "No, you are their opposite, but you are not evil. Light needs dark. A balance must be maintained. But the dark can be friendly. A nice comfortable dark. And from what I can find, you are the only dark that balances all their light." She paused for a moment to let what she had revealed sink in. So far Nix was handling it okay. But the worst was still to come.

Nix took a deep breath. Everything that Hemera had said felt right so far. She felt she already knew this, but had forgotten it.

Hemera continued. "Sailor Saturn is the Senshi of destruction, the guide to death. That is why the Fates are interested in you. You are the one who will bring the end of our world." The last sentence was said in a hushed voice.

Nix felt as if the words were hitting her. All the sudden everything made sense. Lachesis was training her how to fulfill her role. The memory of the stick appearing to be a large glaive flashed though her mind.

In a shaky voice she asked, "Do I carry a glaive?"

Hemera looked at her with worried eyes, and then flipped through the book. "Yes, you do. A large silver glaive is the weapon of Sailor Saturn."

Nix's legs started shaking. _'A glaive to cut the threads... The threads... the threads that Klotho spun... Atropos wove... and Lachesis cut... The three sisters who controlled the fate of all the living...Of the living?'_

"Aunt Hemera, what are the threads of the Fates?" Nix's voice held a plea. A plea that Hemera wouldn't say the answer she was expecting.

Hemera stepped a little closer to her niece before answering. "The threads of the Fates are the lives of all the living things, all the living people."

Nix started to teeter, but she locked her gaze onto Hemera's eyes. Her eyes begging her aunt not to say the answer that she already knew was true. "And what happens to those lives when the thread is cut?"

Hemera almost dropped her eyes. She didn't think she could bear to watch this anymore. Steeling herself, she answered. "They die, and their souls travel to the Underworld. To Pluto's domain."

Nix crumpled to the ground. Hemera barely kept her from hitting her head on the rocks. Looking down at the fainted girl in her arms, she wished she had kept her mouth shut. Settling down onto the ground, she laid Nix's head into her lap, and gently fanned her face.

A few minutes later, Nix's eyelids started fluttering, and Hemera held her breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

Nix tossed her head back and forth, and started muttering. "No. No. I can't kill people." As she sat up she shouted. "I can't!" Turning her head, she stared deep into her aunt's eyes, hoping she would agree with her. What she saw made her drop her head and she started quietly crying. Hemera pulled her into her arms.

Murmuring softly, she tried to comfort her niece. "You aren't murdering them. It is their time to go. If their life didn't end at the appointed time... who knows what misery they would suffer? Many people find death to be a friend, not an enemy."

Nix's shoulders slowly stopped shaking, and she mumbled into Hemera's shoulder. "They will avoid me. I won't have any friends. They are already shying away from me."

Hemera rested her head onto of Nix's. "I'm sorry. I wish I could change this. I wish it wasn't your fate. I would take it from you if I could."

They sat in that position for a long moment, before Nix heaved a deep sigh and pulled out of Hemera's arms. She knew that if this was her destiny, she couldn't change it. So she had to accept it, and make the best of it. She was a senshi, a warrior. One who had a cruel fate, but a necessary one. She was the one who had to lead the fight if her planet was attacked._'Lead... I have to lead. Well I guess I've been training to do that for the last six months. So I better use that training, and pull myself together.'_ As she pulled herself together, she noticed the worry in Hemera's face. _'Knowing Aunt Hemera, she is probably wishing she hadn't said a thing. But...'_

In a tear choked voice, Nix set out to calm her aunt. "Thanks. I think I really needed to hear this." With a gesture that took in the whole cave, she continued. "And thanks for bringing me here. To a place I could break down and cry." She rubbed the last of the tears away from her face. "I'm okay now, really."

Hemera looked closely at her. "Are you sure your okay?"

Nix nodded her head, and gave a weak smile. "I am now, and if I'm not later, well I know where you are, and I know where this cave is. I can bring you back here, and we can go through it all again."

Hemera heard the unspoken question. "And I will come. I will always be there for you." She forced a little laugh. "After all you are my favorite niece."

Nix felt the load lighten a little bit. It help to know she would be able to share it. The two of them looked at each other for a moment longer, then Nix glanced over at the picnic basket. Forcing a smile, she glanced back at her aunt. "So, what's for lunch?"

Grinning, Hemera retrieved the basket and flipped the lid open. "All your favorites, of course. Can't expect me to drop news like that and then bring along a blase lunch can you? I learned better than that in all those equitte classes."

Nix smiled a genuine smile. "No-o-o. I guess not." She looked out of the cave at the brightly streaming sunlight. "Can we eat outside?"

Hemera breifly looked around the cave. _'I can understand why she wouldn't want to stay in here.'_ She shifted her gaze to the clearing in front of the cave. _'And that sun does look inviting.'_ Standing up, she scooped up the basket "Lets go."

Nix stood up and followed her out into the light. As the wall of silence closed behind her, she felt as if their secret was locked inside. 


	4. A dying hope

Title: A dying hope  
Author: Ree  
Theme: Hotaru/Saturn (messiah)  
Genre: General/Drama(?)  
Version: Anime/Manga Silver Mellinuim (Ree's Fates story line)  
Rating: G

Hotaru and all her friends and enemies are originally from the mind of Takeuchi Naoko. Any character she didn't create must fall to me.

A dying hope

Nix carefully cut the threads that Atropos was knotting. Lachesis was cutting just as quickly, but also very carefully. When Nix had a moment, she noticed that the loom was almost full. It was almost time for her duty. She looked over at Klotho, hoping to see the third princess materialize next to her, and already trained and proficient at her duty. But that hope was slowly dying. Carefully cutting one more thread, she remembered when that hope had was first been sparked.

Lachesis actually smiled at her when she returned from her trip home. Nix could see in her eyes that Lachesis already knew what Aunt Hemera had told her. The ageless lady had gestured her into a sitting room near the weaving solar.

"Now you understand what you are, correct?"

Nix reigned in her frustration. She felt that she should have been told much earlier, but there was no changing fate. Keeping her frustration out of her voice she answered the question. "Yes. Aunt Hemera explained it very well, and I also read the book where she found her information."

Nix caught Lachesis' quick, almost guilty, look towards the door, and began to get suspicious. Watching carefully, she continued. "Aunt Hemera said there was no record of that book ever being in the royal archives or in the royal library. According to all of the documents that she found, that book does not exist."

Lachesis did a good job of putting on a blank face, but Nix had been studying people for most of her life and Lachesis for many months. Her suspicions were confirmed. Somehow, Lachesis had slipped the book into the archives. _'And she somehow made sure Aunt Hemera found it. I wonder why?'_ Peering a little closer at her mentor, she decided that maybe Lachesis did it so that someone close to her could help her through finding out the truth.

Lachesis slipped on a confused look for a moment. "Well, wherever it came from, at least you now understand why you are here. I know that your duty, the one that ends all, seems bleak... horrible... so wrong. But just as a life has a proper end, so does an Age. It is your job to give everyone a quick, painless ending. To prepare everything for rebirth."

Nix felt a small part of her heart brighten at the thought of rebirth. "Who causes the rebirth?"

Lachesis stopped and considered her words carefully. "Rebirth always occurs after the destruction, but typically everything has changed. It is a completely new beginning. But if she comes, then everything will be reborn, healed, as if the destruction did not take place."

Nix felt the question pulled out of her. "She?"

Lachesis nodded. "The princess that spins life. The messiah. The holder of the chalice."

"And she can stop the end from happening? Does she also destroy what was causing the end?"

Lachesis shook her head no. "She can only bring life, not destruction. You are the bringer of destruction. You will destroy the enemy. You will end the Age. She will allow the Age a second chance. A chance to continue, but she will not heal the evil. So the enemy will be gone, lost into time."

From that day on, she had watched and waited for the princess of life to come. Now the end was nearing, and messiah still had not appeared. Focusing on her work, she continued helping Lachesis cut threads.

Suddenly she felt a summonings, a pull at her heart. Only she seemed to feel it, to hear it. It was the sound of the wind rushing past the edge of a sword's blade. The sound of waves in a pool. It brought to mind the gazing pool from home. When you dropped stones into it, the waves would break across the stillness of the water and lap gently against the sides. That is what is sounded like to her. Waves where there should not be any. And then there was the sound of a crystal resonating, as if the other waves were hitting it and causing it to vibrate. Or like someone running a wet finger around the lip of a crystal glass, but the tone was deeper, richer.

Even as the summons pulsed through her, Nix felt the glaive in her hand elongating until it finally formed the weapon of Saturn. When she opened he eyes, she looked down and saw she was wearing the fuku of a sailor senshi. She had transformed. She was Sailor Saturn.

Instinctively, she stepped back into the shadows, and her eyes shifted to the chalice on the shelf behind Klotho. _'Surely there is still time for her to appear. The end is not quite here yet.'_ The room went completely still, even the summonings faded to a low hum. Saturn's gaze locked on Lachesis as she cupped her hands around a silver thread hovering over the basket, gently pulsing. As Lachesis conversed with the soul, she checked to see how close Atropos was to the top of the loom. As she waited, the minutes ticked by.

Finally Atropos reached the top of the loom. Saturn stepped out of the shadows as the summonings faded away leaving an aching silence. Lachesis looked over at her and spoke. "It is time, Sailor Saturn."

As she raised the glaive, she felt the last spurt of hope. _'She has to come. The messiah has to come.'_

She held the glaive steady and judged where she would cut, and with how much pressure. _'The cut must be smooth and even. I will not bring a bad end to this Age.'_ She let the glaive fall with a long, even swing. As it sliced the first thread, Saturn felt the hope die. _'The messiah is not coming.'_

The glaive cut through the last thread. Saturn's eyes focused on the unclaimed chalice as she faded away. Slowly the glaive fell to the floor. The Age had ended. 


End file.
